Sermon Series Announcement - Gospel Politics: Allegiance to King Jesus while living in earthly kingdoms

It's no secret that 2024 is an election year in America, and by all accounts, likely to be one of the most bitter and divisive elections in recent memory. How should Christians navigate living through this? What might it look like for Christians to pursue peace, maintain unity and publicly witness to Jesus as Lord, while thinking through political questions and pressures without giving into political idolatry? These are big and pressing questions, and as I've prayed and wrestled with what to preach through after Easter, these are the questions that have been at the front of my mind.

As I considered these questions, I found myself repeatedly drawn back to the New Testament's language of Jesus as the world's true King. The notion of primary allegiance to King Jesus is a powerful starting point for responding to these questions and our current political-cultural pressures. I explored this theme throughout the New Testament, and found a striking pattern: that Jesus' followers are called to a primary and superseding allegiance to Christ even while they endeavor to live as "good citizens" within earthly kingdoms (political systems). This pattern is demonstrated as the Gospels proclaim Jesus' true Kingship, as the early church builds communities that practice this faithful allegiance around the Greco-Roman world (a faithful allegiance that, as we will see, occasionally upsets the political order around them!), as Paul writes letters (epistles) to these communities that exhort them to hold to their allegiance even while "submitting" to the governing authorities they live under, and finally culminating in the powerful vision of Revelation that declares the ultimate end of all human-earthly politics when God's Kingdom arrives in its fullness.

This is all why we are going to go through a 12-week sermon series entitled "Gospel Politics," through which we will be exploring together the New Testament's case that Jesus is the true King of the heavens and earth. The goal is not to steer anyone towards specific political conclusions (left or right), who to vote for this year, or even whether or not to vote at all, but rather to collectively “lift our eyes” to the God who rules this world and has launched an alternative Kingdom that transcends all cultural, social, political divisions. Specific political issues may be named over the course of the sermon series, but no sermon will be geared towards any particular issue. Each sermon will be rooted firmly in a New Testament text (see below for the overview of the text selections).

Ultimately, my hope and prayer is that we, as a community, would be called to an even-deeper loyalty and love towards our Good King, that we would be equipped to be non-anxious about the upcoming political cycle in 2024. You are invited to join us for this timely exploration, and to practice faithful allegiance to our true King together!

Outline:

1. The Birth of the World’s True King - Matthew 2:1-12
2. The Temptation of the King - Matthew 4.1-11
3. "Render Unto Caesar" - Mark 12.13-17
4. "My Kingdom is not From this World" - John 18.28-40
5. The Cross and the Throne - John 19.1-22
6. The King Takes His Seat (The Ascension) - Acts 1.1-11
7. “Promoting Unlawful Customs” (the clash at Philippi) - Acts 16.16-38
8. Live Out Your Citizenship - Philippians 3.12-21
9. “Turning the World Upside Down” (the clash at Thessalonica) - Acts 17.1-9
10. The Return of the King - 1 Thessalonians 4.13-5.11
11. Subversive Submission - Romans 12.9-13.7
12. The End of Empire - Revelation 18